Book Review: A Generous Orthodoxy Part 12 of ??

Mystical/Poetic

McLaren thinks that theologians in general are too rational, and by relying too much on reason, they miss some of the otherness, greatness, and mystery of God. He writes that as Medieval Christians built cathedrals of stone and glass, Modern (that is influenced by modern philosophy) Christians built cathedrals of proposition and argument, known as systematic theologies. Many today, who more often recognize the shortcomings of reason, view systematic theologies as less important. Instead of merely having theologian-accountants, theologian-technicians, and theologian-scientists, McLaren thinks we should have more theologian-poets.

I think much of what McLaren is trying to say in this chapter can be explained by a quote he gives from G. K. Chesterton - "Poetry is sane because it floats easily in an infinite sea; reason seeks to cross the infinite sea, and so make it finite. The result is mental exhaustion. … The poet only asks to get his head in the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it is his head that splits… Materialists and madmen never have doubts … Mysticism keeps men sane."